Sufi Time
Aug 10, 2024 7:00 pm
Hi there,
When I first came to Adnan’s Sufi workshops I was surprised by how long he had us wait before he began the class. I had arrived at the appointed hour, yet we sat around chatting for almost 45 minutes. What was going on?
This strange timing also happens in the Sufi summer workshops. The morning workshop is scheduled to begin at 11:30 am yet we often don’t begin until after 12. People respond by coming later and so the start time slides later and later into the day.
This is neither an accident nor a failure in calendar integrity. Sufi time is not clock time. It is timing based on the situation. The wait time at the beginning of the workshop is part of the Sufi work. It is not dead time or wasted time. It is time for the teacher to assess the situation, the students, the mood, and the flow and to choose the exact right moment to begin.
For the students, the delayed start is time to become present and jettison all thoughts, worries, and concerns -- like making plans to do laundry or arranging a ride to town or ordering music and sharing stories.
Adnan explains, “If you have a plan, you kill the creativity and nothing happens. Sufi work is very creative.” If evolves from moment to moment.
When I teach my Sufi classes, I will look at various music possibilities for slow movement, chanting, and dancing. What I use, however, is dependent on the moment and my intuition at that moment.
Last Sunday I thought I would end the class with some dancing. But as I finished the chant it became clear to me that dancing would not work.
Often ideas of what to do next pop into my mind. I simply follow this internal guidance. This guidance is available only in the moment. The intellect has no place in this and will only misguide me.
When I first taught Sufi classes in the early 2000 I did not understand this about the Sufi work. I spent hours, the day before, deciding exactly what music to play and when. Interestingly, I did not attract many students. I was rarely aligned with the moment. One time, when a bunch of students showed up, I became flustered and lost my focus. The class went wrong because I was trying so hard to get it right instead of being in the moment. My critical self-talk would not let up for one minute. I do not fault this earlier self. She had not yet developed her capacity to be in the moment.
Students can develop their capacity for being in the moment while following the teacher. Once you know what the next movement is, you can close your eyes and follow your own rhythm of breathing and movement. You do not need to worry about "getting it right." Rightness is within you and within the moment.
Often, I invite students to do their own creative movements at the end of a slow movement segment or during a dance segment. This is a more extended opportunity to practice moving and breathing from moment to moment. This is where the real Sufi learning takes place -- when you learn to move from moment to moment without thought, relying only on what feels right. Moving this way is intoxicating.
Adnan explained Sufi timing in his early writings:
Any planning or any teaching that just uses the exercises is useless . . . Once you develop the power of the essence of the work, a certain energy takes place and certain exercises come to you. You don't go to them. There are limitless exercises, but the exercises done in one moment will not fit in another time -- they will be useless.
I love Adnan's early writings because they explains so much about his work. By the time I was studying with Adnan in the late 80s, he did not talk about Sufi time. He talked about breaking bad habits and controlling the animal self. Often I was uncomfortable with these stories. I was afraid they would offend people. Maybe they did. Adnan reminded us, "The secret protects itself." Sufi work is not for everyone.
So I read his writing and flow with the rhythm of the words and their phrasing because Adnan’s writing is more about the sound and rhythm of the words than the meaning of his words.
When you listen to Adnan speaking in the recording of his interviews, it is so clear. He pulls you in with his deep voice and the rhythm of his phrasing. He is a master.
Eckhart Tolle, a well-known writer of spirit and the moment, is a genius in his writing and his speaking. He draws you into the moment with his words and his voice. He tickles your intellect but never lets you stay there. You are quickly drawn into the moment and soon forget about making sense of his words. His words paint pictures and ignite memory and this leads to the moment. Adnan's writing is different yet produces the same result.
Is there a rhythm in this writing of mine? Does it convey the moment like Adnan’s writings?
Does it matter? I write about my experience of Adnan's work because in writing I enter the moment. As long as I am in the moment, all is well.
You know you are in the moment when worries cease and you feel your heart swell with joy and gratitude. That is how I feel right now – joyful and grateful.
For a moment-by-moment immersion in spirit and Sufi Time, join me this Sunday at 8 am PDT and or Tuesday 10:30 am PDT for slow movement, breath and sound
Use the LINK below:
SUNDAY-
Class 1 hosted by Michelle
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1
8:00 am- San Francisco
11:00 am - New York (EST)
16:00 – Limerick
17:00 - Madrid (CET)
TUESDAY – hosted by Michelle
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88050735178?pwd=zkrVoc4Mtg0pSXtAAWmoCrHWQb2qb1.1
10:30 am – San Francisco
1:30 pm - New York (EST)
18:30 – Limerick
19:30 - Vienna, Madrid (CET)
Don’t forget to use the password SUFI all in caps if you are asked for the password.
Be brilliant,
Dr. Michelle
Life Transformation Coach
Empowering Women to Reinvent Their Life After Loss
Secrets of Life and Death
